


A Common Enough Accident

by LandofWordsandNonsense (RiaHawk)



Series: Prompted One Shots [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Bloody Hands, Caleb gets to take care of Nott for once, Gen, Pre-Stream (Critical Role), alchemy accidents, doing alchemy just invites disaster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 13:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16175867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiaHawk/pseuds/LandofWordsandNonsense
Summary: The thing about the inevitable accidents at the academy's alchemy lab was that the students were nearly always wearing gloves.He was shocked out of his pleasantly hazy absorption in his book by the sound of shattering glass and Nott's pained shriek.





	A Common Enough Accident

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Bloody Hands

They'd had very good luck in the last little town, stealing this and that before running back to the dubious safety of the wilderness. They'd managed to get a potion, a large uncut diamond of pleasing shape that Caleb thought would be very useful, a new book, two bottles of liquor, and even some bread that had still been warm and soft.

 

And some alchemist's supplies.

 

Nott had been fascinated by them, and because Caleb wanted to give his little goblin friend everything in the world, she  _ deserved _ everything in the world, he'd gone to a little trouble to get them. Nott had almost cried when he'd shown her the box he'd tucked into his coat when the shopkeeper was looking the other way, had spent almost two hours just running her claws over the neatly packed retorts and jars and reagents once they made their little camp miles away from civilization.

 

The afternoon progressed into evening, and Caleb was reading the new book. No spells in this one, but it was something new to read and that was a small enough luxury that he was willing to accept it now, three months out of prison. Nott had found the small, closely written instructional pamphlet that had been tucked into the box, and was eagerly reading it to see how to start using it. It was a companionable way to pass the time, Caleb absorbed in his book and Nott fiddling with her alchemy set. There were faint hisses and sputterings, and then presently a not very unpleasant acrid smell that Caleb remembered from the labs when he had been in school.

 

And for a little while, it was very nice.

 

Then he was shocked out of his pleasantly hazy absorption in his book by the sound of shattering glass and Nott's pained shriek, and a smell of burning that was entirely unlike the smell he associated with his fire but equally intolerable. He dropped his book and lunged for Nott, to see what had made her scream so.

 

Alchemy had never been his best subject; when he'd been in school he'd taken just enough of the required classes to not need to take any more, his focus always on the more arcane subjects. But he remembered enough that he saw what had happened at a glance. It was a common enough accident, from what he recalled, students new to alchemy not entirely familiar with the proper processes and how the equipment was used. Nott had been heating a retort while she'd been mixing something in a beaker, but she didn't know not to heat it empty, and it had exploded just as she'd gone to add the reagents she'd been mixing. Glass had gone everywhere, and the substance in the beaker had sloshed all over Nott's hands.

 

But the thing about the inevitable accidents at the academy's alchemy lab was that the students were nearly always wearing  _ gloves _ .

 

For a moment, it  _ did _ look like she's wearing gloves. But neither of them had  _ red _ gloves. Nott's hands were a mess. There was broken glass in them, and the caustic reagents she'd been mixing had burned her on top of it. Blood and burned skin covered every bit of what should be green from her wrists down. She gulped air in a near-silent, hissing way, instinct taking over and forcing her to be quiet, to not show she was wounded, to not show weakness.

 

Caleb took in the situation in less than a second, and scooped her up. He wasn't any good at alchemy but he did remember what was done in these sort of situations. There was a stream they'd stopped by, despite Nott's protests; a source of clean water had been a good find. He darted for it, moving as fast as he could without jarring Nott too much. "I know you do not like the water,  _ liebling _ , but we must get it off your hands right away." He held her steady as he plunged her hands into the cold water of the stream, and she half shrieked again, the sound muffled against the sleeve of his coat. It wasn't a comfortable position to be held in, especially over water, but she trusted Caleb to not let her fall in. She whimpered against him as the water ran over her hands. He didn't scrub at them, like he did during their rare baths, but just held her hands under the water for what felt like a really long time. But finally, the cold water seemed to replace the burning feeling from the spilled liquid. Gingerly, he touched her fingers and the backs of her hands under the water, and she hissed because it hurt, but after a moment, he seemed satisfied, and pulled her back to settle her in his lap. "Ah, _ ja _ , it does not look so bad now. I will still need to pull the glass out, and bandage your hands."

 

She nodded, biting her lip that was already fairly mangled from her teeth, and he started pulling things out of his pockets. He considered the shards of glass in her hands for a moment. "Do you have your tools in your pockets?" She nodded again, and started reaching for them, but broke off and hissed as the pain in her hands flared up again. "Ah,  _ nein _ , I will get them if it is okay." And there was no one else in the world that Nott would allow to go through her pockets, but Caleb was  _ different _ , so she nodded again, and shifted so he could reach the right pocket. Carefully, he pulled them out, and spread them out on the ground nearby, until he found a delicate pair of tweezers. Murmuring apologies in both Common and Zemnian, he started the painstaking process of pulling the shards of glass out of her hands, pausing whenever she flinched against him.

 

"It's... it's okay, Caleb," she said, trying to sound more okay than she was. "I've had worse."

 

"I know you have,  _ liebling _ . But I want to make this as easy for you as I can." It took a long time to get all of it, and she did her best to not cry, and mostly succeeded. Snarls and hisses and curses were a different matter, and it was a good thing that Caleb had learned to take that in stride. But finally, he'd gotten all of it, though that meant her hands were bleeding again. "I will need to wash your hands again," he said gently.

 

"...Okay."

 

It was more of the same as before, with him holding her so she wasn't in danger of falling in as he let the water run over her hands, soothing the burns and washing out the cuts, paying no mind to how the position meant he was probably getting soaked himself. She didn't have to keep her hands in the water as long this time. He resettled her in his lap, and found a jar of ointment they'd gotten two towns back. He started spreading it over her hands as carefully as he could, apologizing profusely when she couldn't bite back the wince or snarl as he inadvertently touched one of her burns a little too firmly. "I will bandage this up, and we will see how it looks in the morning,  _ ja _ ? And then if it is not any better, we have the healing potion."

 

"That's for you," she said sullenly as he started wrapping her hands with some clean bandages that they'd somehow managed to get their hands on.

 

" _ Ja _ , I know, but we can steal another. Your hands, they are important." He gave her a small, tired smile. "Do you, do you want a drink?"

 

"Yes." He found one of the bottles they'd picked up and opened it for her, and didn't say anything when she downed half of it in one go. "...I'm not sure if I like alchemy after all."

 

There was a faint, breathy laugh, and he stroked her hair as she nestled more firmly in his lap. " _ Ja _ , I do not blame you after that. But if you want to try it again later, I will help you."

 

"...Thank you, Caleb."


End file.
